The sun may be preparing for winter but the basket is never fuller.

Just the fact that oysters and mussels are back is enough for a celebration. In England apples and damsons are now in full season and should easily replace any chocolate bars you may think of snacking on. Mushrooms start appearing and no one has bettered the simple garlic, lemon and parsley mushroom fry up. (add a touch of lemon juice). Kale is here. Often it scares people off with sharpish leaves, but steam them and sauté them with butter and garlic and they are wonderfully succulent. Game features quite heavily – duck, venison and wood pigeon. It always saddens me that game is shunned by most. The days of leaving game to hang till the worms start appearing are long gone (more’s the pity). Please try it, you’ll love it.